Witness tampering frees drug dealers

PESHAWAR:

In a landmark judgment, the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday declared that some witnesses deliberately changed their statements to benefit the accused, indicating that “moral values” had died.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah, acquitted two men in a narcotics case, saying that they had been set free not by proving their innocence, but with the aid of the prosecution witnesses.

The judgment, authored by Justice Asadullah, read that the main reason for witnesses deliberately changing their statements to benefit the accused involved in the nefarious drug trade was to earn quick money. The presence of such elements has caused the people to lose their confidence in government agencies, it added.

When the people resorted to such actions, nothing was left, Justice Asadullah wrote in the judgment, stressing the need for restoring the confidence of the public in government agencies.

“Now it's up to the people in charge of this country to decide what to make of this situation,” the verdict continued.

According to the verdict, the prosecution said on April 7, 2021, a vehicle was stopped on the main highway near Lachi in Kohat district, in which Inspector Faisal Khan and Constable Khan Zeb Khan of the excise department were travelling.

On searching the vehicle, 1.32 million grams of hashish, 30 kilogrammes of opium and a Kalashnikov rifle were found.

The prosecution presented eight witnesses in a sessions court, which sentenced the two excise department employees to life imprisonment. The convicts then filed an appeal in the PHC.

Justice Asadullah wrote in the judgment that the evidence presented against the accused showed that an attempt was made to save them.

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The judge noted that such officials discredited the department.

He added that in that way, the accused had also damaged the public’s trust in the department.

The verdict read that the department, which held the accused responsible for the crime, had also tried to save them.

“The most tragic thing is that moral values have died because of this incident. The law enforcement officials not only broke the law but also engaged in activities that needed to be stopped,” it added.

The judge expressed regret that some officials did not even respect their uniform.

In this case, he added, officials from both sides were members of a disciplined force and it seemed that they had abandoned their direction.

Justice Asadullah mentioned a quote from a prominent American evangelist, who had once said: “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost."

He continued that the way the witnesses cooperated with the accused was unprecedented.